“It just seems careless and unwise for somebody like Apple to start planting this kind of personal information without protection in the files,” von Lohmann said. If someone were to lose their iPod or have their laptop stolen, for example, anyone using simple software tools could access the personal data in the songs, von Lohmann suggested. Still, the group takes issue with the fact that the personal information stored in these type of song files is not encrypted. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which also analyzed the DRM-free song files on iTunes, said it did not want to jump to any conclusions on Apple’s reasons for embedding the personal data.īesides, users can remove their identifying data from the files simply by burning the tracks to a CD and then ripping the songs back to their computer in the MP3 format, said Fred Von Lohmann, an attorney with the San Francisco-based group. “Consumers should always know what they’re getting into.” “But I’m on the fence in terms of the privacy issues,” she said in an interview. We asked that this be removed and we got what we were looking for,” said Erica Sadun, a prolific technology blogger on and author who conducted her own tests of Apple’s embedded identification tags. “DRM prevented us from playing the music we have purchased on all of our devices. ![]() EMI Group PLC, the major record label behind Apple’s inaugural batch of DRM-free songs, also declined to comment. The Recording Industry Association of America, whose piracy lawsuits have ensnared organized outfits as well as individual grandmothers and youths, declined to comment. Their reports last week prompted speculation that the data could be used to trace copies uploaded to online file-sharing networks back to the people who originally purchased the tracks, opening those users to music industry copyright lawsuits. Technology blogs Ars Technica and The Unofficial Apple Weblog were among the first to reveal that personal data remained in the unrestricted iTunes tracks. Though piracy of digital music over the Internet remains unabated even with the growth of legitimate online retailers like iTunes, Apple’s debut of DRM-free songs could tempt some of its users to share their purchased tracks with others online. With DRM-free content, some songs purchased from iTunes now work directly on portable players other than Apple’s iPod, including Microsoft Corp.’s Zune. ![]() But until the market-leading iTunes Store began offering DRM-free music last week, no one raised much of a ruckus.ĭRM technology puts a sort of software lock on digital songs or movies, dictating where and how the content can be played and distributed. The trendsetting Cupertino-based company has always embedded user information - a user name and e-mail - into its copy-protected tracks.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |